Radio Show Podcasts

Suzanne Newman joins Kelley Smith at CarePartners Senior Living to talk about their secret sauce, the evolution of their communities in the Seattle area.

Suzanne Newman joins Kelley Smith at CarePartners Senior Living to talk about to talk about CarePartners' history and core values.

This segment focuses on misconceptions of clinical trials and who qualifies for the Lewy body dementia clinical trial. Dr. Daniel Burdick, a physician's investigator at Evergreen Hospital Medical Center in Kirkland, Washington, covers these topics with Suzanne Newman.

This segment focuses on what doctors test in the Lewy body dementia clinical trial, as well as the importance of the study participant's care partner. Dr. Daniel Burdick walks Suzanne Newman through these aspects of the clinical trial. In the shape trial, doctors are looking at elements of safety and efficacy. Safety issues include studying bloodwork, physical exams, and checking things like changes in mood. The efficacy of the medication is studied by assessing the participant's cognition: the person's ability to remember, recall, fluidly use words, retain their focus and comprehension, and plan and follow events. They'll be asked to recall words and draw figures, and these are compared from the beginning to the end of the trial. Doctors also measure brain waves with EEG to get more objective data than they can from asking questions.

This segment focuses on what it means to be involved in the Lewy body dementia shape trial. Dr. Daniel Burdick, a physician's investigator at Evergreen Hospital Medical Center in Kirkland, Washington walks Suzanne Newman through the process. Participating in a clinical trial is a donation of time to the global effort to develop better treatments for Parkinson's disease and Dementia with Lewy Bodies. It can be involved. This particular trial is a 6-8 month process with 9 or 10 visits to the Kirkland site, one every 4-6 weeks, each one a couple to several hours each, with doctors spending lots of time with them. Doctors ask detailed questions and get to know their experiences in much greater detail, and people have said that it's a positive experience because they feel really connected. A research coordinator becomes their navigator through the trial.

Dr. Daniel Burdick from the Evergreen Hospital Medical Center in Kirkland, Washington, joins Suzanne to talk about Lewy body dementia. It encompasses two separate disorders: Parkinson's dementia and Dementia with Lewy Bodies, which are very similar. One of the best ways to make your future better, if you have dementia, if you want to be proactive with the disease, is to volunteer in a clinical trial.

How should money be spent during a senior loved one's move? It's very emotional and sensitive time, with parents and their adult children having different perspectives and agendas. Adult children are worried about the parents' money lasting long enough for their care. They worry that they might have to mortgage their own home in a few years to pay for their Mom's care. Unless parents have set aside a nest egg, it's a concern because the cost of care is so high that proceeds from a home sale might only pay for care for a handful of years. Sometimes they don't want their parent to sell the home because they expect that home to be there for them when their loved one passes away. Meanwhile, what's best for Mom in her situation?

Who helps Mom through the sorting, packing and moving process? Everyone is well-meaning. Some Moms expect that their adult children will take four months' leave from work to go through every box, glass, and cross-stitch, remembering back to when family did that for each other. Yet many of today's adult children can't imagine how they'd be able to take leave from their job, travel out of state, and pay for a flight to sort through decades of household items – they're overwhelmed by that idea, and it causes tension in the relationship.

Adult children and their aging parents have wildly differing perspectives on moving. This segment builds a bridge to understanding each others' perspectives when it comes to the senior loved one's pet, which befuddles many adult children. Adult children are thinking of a monthly budget, trying to make funds last as long as possible, and are concerned about how that's affected by an animal's daily care, walks, feeding, medication, and vet care. Mom, however, sees the pet as a family member who gives joy, love, companionship, and comfort.

When it's time for a senior loved one's downsizing, their adult children may not quite understand or relate to the parents' perspective earned from living 50 years in their home as they see more pragmatic concerns about home repairs and time-consuming chores, and want to schedule moving deadlines based on available free time. Rebecca Bomann, the CEO of SASH Services, and Suzanne Newman talk about how to do right by our parents while helping them transition from a long-standing residence in their home to senior living.